Was climbing at Legoland last week and a troop of Baboons were moving around the top of Legoland.

Seeing the Baboons we both donned our helmets and started pulling out gear. About 2 min's later a big rock (see picture below) arrived about 2 meters behind us!! This was followed by a shower of smaller rocks shortly afterwards.The large rock made quite an impact on the on the very compact ground!!

Beware when animals (or people) are moving around above you (and consider wearing a helmet more often)!

About cyclists not debating helmet use...http://www.cyclehelmets.org/In any case, you will not see me mountainbike without one, you will see me commuting 6 mins without one. Same as climbing, flat plastic sport wall- no helmet. Real rock-Helmet....Now I just need money for one :/

Justin: Sure, the Petzl helmet above will save your head from damage, but tell me, if a rock that size came down from the top of any crag how would your neck and back feel?

Helmets aren't an invulnerability cloak that removes all chance of danger, but rather something that reduces the damage from smaller objects. By the same token we should be wearing shoulder guards, but that isn't practical even though we all know people who have scored some bruises because of falling debris.

Warren G wrote:... but tell me, if a rock that size came down from the top of any crag how would your neck and back feel?

By the same token we should be wearing shoulder guards, but that isn't practical...

Warren, neck and back would probably be very bad unless the rock 'slid' off the helmet (any climbing helmet!). Much like wearing leathers on a motorbike (where you can mend broken bones but repairing skin is a problem) the climbing helmet should stop your skull from being cracked open like an egg and you would not bleed out - which means going to the physio, but not to a Dr. for stitches.

Me: That helmet [Half Dome] looks rather flimsy, how much force can it take?Cesar: Slightly less than your neck, remember that the weakest part of the system is the part that gives way.

A rock of that size to the head would almost definitely have been fatal after falling 2m - I'm pretty sure of that (with or without a helmet). But a small stone that has fallen 20m can be sufficient to fracture your skull. Don't believe me? Consider how a small hailstone is regarding size relative to the force of impact - now compare that to a stone half the size of a golf ball, not at terminal velocity, but going fast.

I came very close to taking a large rock to the leg on Thumb Pass earlier this year (I jumped out of the way just in time), and had a large rock rolling over my leg after standing on it and it giving way on Inner Tower Gully earlier this year. My point is - these things happen very quickly and you are lucky if you have time to react, a falling rock also accelerates very quickly. The rock that was dodged on Thumb Pass was about 4m ahead of me on a steep part of the pass. It all happened very quickly, it would have hit me in the knee if I hadn't moved.

"There is something fundamentally wrong in treating the Earth as if it were a business in liquidation." Herman E Daly

I wear a a helmet. Used to only do it in the Berg because the whole mountain is falling apart, but now use it everywhere as I have grown up and seen consequences. I took a long fall on a sport route just recently: flipped over and swung backward/upside down into the wall. I hit the wall hard enough to crack the back of the helmet. A new, good quality PETZL one. If a fall can crack/indent a helmet, imagine what it would have done to my skull, as thick as it is! Mild concussion and shock was the result - otherwise it would have been a chopper ride to Entabeni Hospital and ... who knows....

Well done to the person who compared it to cycling helmets and cyclists attitudes. To those who think it is uncool, either get a good helmet and change your attitude or stick the the Malls where looking good is a priority. Or imagine how cool it would look being fed through a tube while your family suffers (just because you wanted to look cool on the rock.)

When I was living in Cape Town, I wore a helmet while climbing trad. and never questioned whether it was necessary or not. After all, if you've ever climbed a route on Lion's Head, the requirement for a helmet is set in stone.

Since I have moved to the UK, a new problem was developed, regarding helmets: space!

My wife and I brought our trad. helmets with us, from South Africa.

We also picked up a nasty addiction to skiing. Even though the last winter wasn't a good skiing season, my wife and I still managed a spot of great skiing in France. This, too, requires a helmet and, apparently, only skiing helmets are rated for skiing. (Note: you can rent helmets but, in our experience, renting skis and boots is fairly safe. Renting helmets is not always pleasant.)

Lastly, we both commute by bicycle, here, adding another requirement for another specialised helmet.

That's half a dozen helmets! We have more helmets than items of furniture in our apartment.

A few years ago. Sport climbing at a pretty solid (I thought) granite sport crag in Canada. I do the route, no problem. My friend goes next. Part way up there's a giant flake, and part of it comes off when he pulls it. Before I realize what's happening he's falling, I'm go shooting up in the air, and a football-sized rock lands on the ground about 20 cm to my left.

Xharlie wrote:That's half a dozen helmets! We have more helmets than items of furniture in our apartment.

As well as ski and bike, I've got a mountaineering helmet and a single pitch climbing helmet too! Luckily I never do any scary surfing, or else that would be another one. I think there are some helmets that can be used for more than one thing.

I don't really like the hardhat perched on your head traditional climbing helmets so because I almost exclusively climb on solid sport routes I don't wear it (its a nuisance and in the way). but more than being hit by a falling rock I'm worried about an awkward fall, flipping over and banging my head so a snug low profile helmet that is designed to be comfortable and protect my head from a knock (not a rock ) is what I think I need (ie not just vertical impact, but side impact as well) . It seems this new helmet would achieve that so I will try one when they arrive